Trust
by ChibiFoxx
Summary: Living in a vampire infested neighbourhood, Deidara had been kept from such supernatural creatures from young. However, everything turns upside down when he witnesses a murder, and subsequently infuriating a red headed vampire. To survive, we sometimes toy with other's trust. But is it taking it too far by turning it into a game? Sasodei, AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N This is my first time posting a story here…so anyways please comment and review :) I know I'm not perfect at writing, and constructive criticism is welcomed. Thank you fine sirs~!

Also, I do not claim to know everything about vampires…I will be writing from what I believe is true. Feel free to advise me. :P

**Trust**

Chapter 1

The six year old blond sat at his desk, patiently molding a lump of clay. He squinted his eyes, head cocked at an odd angle as he pressed and shaped the white substance in intense concentration. Occasionally reaching out to grab a moist sponge to dab the clay to prevent it from hardening, there was scarcely any movement in the room albeit his fingers dancing on the clay.

"Deidara! Dinner's ready!" his mother called warmly from the kitchen.

The child paused, looking over at his unfinished sculpture. It hardly bore any features of a bird, the only traces of the animal being a sharp point as its beak and a short stubby protrusion as a tail. He looked at it in mild distaste, slightly hesitant on leaving his art incomplete.

"Deidara!"

The blond quickly pushed back his chair, running out of his room at his mother's annoyed call. He could finish the sculpture after dinner anyway. His long blond hair flew out behind him like a curtain as he leapt down the stairs, ignorant to the various sized pieces of clay sticking to him. His mother was laying out the table, her long blonde hair tied up in a messy ponytail. She wore her favourite fuchsia apron around her waist, and grinned upon seeing her son enter the kitchen.

"Help me lay out the table." His mother gestured to a pile of plates on the counter as she prepared the dishes. The young blond nodded, automatically taking four clean plates from the stack and placing them at their respective places on the table.

He hopped onto his seat, feeling his stomach growl in hunger as he stared at the dishes his mother laid out on the table. The savory smells assaulted his senses and the blond reached for a piece of roll in front of him, only to have his hand slapped away. "No dinner until you clean yourself up," his mother chided lightly. The boy pouted, crossing his arms.

"Im clean, un!" His mother chuckled, and pointed at a random piece of clay stuck to his shirt.

"That doesn't look very clean to me. What have you been doing?" The boy glanced down at his clay clogged shirt and giggled. "Art, un!" he exclaimed, spreading out both hands as if to emphasize his point. His mother raised a delicate brow, and quickly shooed her son to the toilet. The blonde grinned, running into the toilet hurriedly.

The six year old had to tiptoe to see his face in the mirror, his hands grasping the brim of the sink tightly to prevent himself from slipping. A single blue eye greeted him, the long fringe that obscured almost half of his face and other eye had pieces of white tangled in it. He turned on the tap, wetting his hands and running his moist fingers through his messy fringe and cleaning out most of the sticky bits of clay. Pulling his waist length blond hair to the front, he realized with irritation that he had to wash it as well. He really had to be more careful while working with the clay.

Plugging the sink, he let the water collect to a suitable depth and stirred his hand around a few times habitually to test the temperature. Deeming it alright, he took a deep breath and plunged his head into the cold water. After several seconds, he pulled his head out of the icy liquid and wringed his wet hair a few times. The blond drained the water away, along with bits of clay that came unstuck. Picking up a comb, he proceeded to drag it through his waterlogged hair to pull away the remaining white substance.

After getting rid of majority of the clay out of his hair, he ran to his bedroom for a quick change of clothes, tossing his soiled clothes carelessly on the floor and pulling on a cyan hoodie along with a pair of dark blue denim. Running down the stairs and entering the kitchen, he smiled brightly at his older sister and climbed onto the seat next to her. "Ino!" the younger greeted, nodding slightly.

The ten year old grinned back in response and gave him a nod of acknowledgement. The older child's hair was styled in a similar way to that of her brother; with an equally long bang dangling in front of her left eye. Her hair colour was a slightly paler shade of yellow than compared to her sibling, and she tied her long hair up in a single ponytail which went below her waist. The six year old had always looked up to his sister, going so far as to put her on a pedestal and mimicking her hair style. The two siblings had always been close, almost inseparable when Deidara was younger, at least that was what he was told by his mother.

He would trail his sister around the house for hours on end, mostly out of boredom. His older sister generally did not mind the small child on her tail, and the younger mostly knew to give his sister back her personal bubble when she was busy. Except, on several occasions where he would get shouted at for following her into a certain room and even a damp towel shoved violently into his face.

He later then realized it was called a bathroom.

Deidara grabbed a pair of chopsticks, his manners thrown out of the window in his urge to satiate his hunger. Ino shook her head at her brother's actions and turned to her mother whom was getting seated.

"Where is daddy?" she queried, upon noticing the lack of an occupant at the table.

Her mother frowned, her forehead creasing momentarily, before she grinned comfortingly at her daughter and dismissed his absence as being held back from work for being late that morning. The youngest child paused in his eating, chopsticks still partially concealed in his mouth. He frowned, as he had been noting that their father rarely joined them for dinner these days. Placing his chopsticks down, he gave a confused stare. "What does daddy work as?"

His mother looked up at her son with mild perplexity written on her features. The worry on her face was gone in seconds. "You will know when you grow up." There came the supposedly reassuring, monotone reply she frequently gave him in response to questions revolving around his father's work life. The blond male frowned further, before nodding slowly and resuming his dinner. Although he was young, it was pretty easy for anyone to notice that the answer his mother had given was a subtle avoidance of the topic. Naturally, he was curious of what his father worked as, being kept in the dark of it since young.

His mother gazed at her oldest child, then to her youngest, the latter whom seemed to be pondering about her reply. She glanced down somewhat sadly. 'You will know when you grow up,' she mused, 'although I really hope you would not.'

XOXOXO

_**A few nights later**_

It wasn't a very big surprise to the whole neighborhood when the news of his father's death was announced. Most of the people were shocked, some actually foresaw his death and were expecting it. After all, in this neighborhood where deaths came from unknown causes, people soon became numb to it.

His mother was obviously devastated. Upon hearing the news first hand from a couple of police officers who barged into their house in the wee hours of the morning, she blanched and collapsed instantly on the kitchen floor. The two siblings, awakened from the entire ruckus, could only huddle together in bemusement and dread as they observed the exchange from the living room.

The funeral was dreary and doleful. Nothing was said excessively, and the people were more morose and melancholy than ever. Deidara managed to catch wind of some people's hush whispering of his father's death being lamentable, having being quite adequate and skillful at his job. He apparently had met his demise when working, to a rather respectful cause.

He used to remember hating his father. Hating him for leaving them all so abruptly it was shocking, hating him for leaving his mother behind to pick up the broken pieces; and hating him for keeping himself in isolation all the time. Then, life had to move on without him. He didn't even know his own father much, and his mother always refused to talk about him.

From then on, his mother had started to take on part time jobs to keep the larder full. His father's job had been the only one bringing in money to support the family, and with his absence, it seemed the entire weight of the family's burdens had forced themselves onto his mother's weary shoulders.

The two children were then compelled to take care of themselves more often, being the only ones at home when their mother was out working till the late hours of the night. She tried to come home before the sun set, but sometimes the two blondes were left to settle their dinner themselves. They dug out foodstuffs from the fractionally full larder and stumbled over the cooking instructions from a dog eared cookbook.

Of course, there came the instructions of shutting the house off completely from the outside world when there were times she was not at home after the sun set. Shutting the windows and bolting the doors was completely necessary before the light receded from the sky, and were to be kept that way till dawn broke.

The reasons, they were never told why.

There were nights where there were light knocks on the door, beckoning them to open it, and the siblings would heed as their mother instructed and rush to their rooms, ignoring the escalating frantic knocks. "Do not open the door, unless you hear the doorbell ring two times followed by two knocks," their mother said, "that would be me."

That was their 'secret code' so as to say.

**-Flashback-**

Once, there were two lucid rings of the doorbell and two quick knocks on the door late at night, and her sister ran rather elatedly to open the door for their mother, the youngest trailing behind, biting his knuckles anxiously. At the door, however, was not their mother.

The man, who was two feet shorter than their mother, was clad in a maroon hood which stretched to the ground. The moonlight casted a shadow on the man's facial features, but it illuminated the man's victorious smirk. That was possibly one of his first encounters with those 'monsters' which his mother put it.

Before his sister could get the door closed, the man pushed past her lightly, moving with such an inhuman swiftness that had put the youngest to question. He vaguely felt his arm being held in a crushing grip by his sister, and being pulled away from the main door hastily.

He remembered a scream tearing itself from his throat when he felt his legs give way under him suddenly, face slamming harshly against the floorboards. Looking up tearily at his sister's horrified expression; he instinctively turned around to examine his legs. A dark slash of crimson stained the blue denim, steadily spreading with each second. Broken pieces of a wine bottle littered the area around him, the shards of sharp glass gleaming dangerously. A burning sensation came rippling up his right leg, and he let out a wail of pain. A steady and calm set of footsteps could be heard heading towards them, and Deidara began to freak out. He scratched at the slippery floor in a fruitless attempt to get away from the horrid person, the huge bleeding gash on his leg caused by the bottle hindering his movements.

His sister's quick thinking had saved them that day.

The older blonde had swiftly hooked her arms around his shoulders, half dragging her distressed brother to a brightly lit room. Upon entering the living room, they let the warm light envelope around them as the elder pulled them to the furthest corner of the room, squeezing into a cramp space between the two leather sofas. It was an attempt to try to hide themselves.

The man already seemed know where the two children were hiding the moment he entered the room. He was, obviously, toying around with his prey before ending their lives mercilessly. Smirking, the man revealed two sharp elongated teeth before walking through the room languidly, looking around the room slowly to drag out the siblings terror.

The fear scent hit him at full force when he approached the two trembling figures, the youngest of which had his head buried in the other's chest. The elder looked up determinedly, the spark of apprehension in her eyes as she reached behind the sofa, pulling out a common spray bottle. The man began chuckle softly. "And what are you planning to do with that, little girl?" his voice was smooth, humorless.

Ignoring the other, Ino began unscrewing the top of the bottle with shaking hands, impalpable fear radiating off her in waves. Why the vampire didn't stop her, was perhaps to fuel his own sick amusement to regard his prey's last futile attempt to save herself and her sibling; whatever it was, the youngest could not comprehend. After getting the bottle open, she glared firmly at the man and placed the neck of the bottle to her lips, tipping the liquid into her open mouth.

The man stared at her in bewilderment, blinking once. That had come unexpected. He had expected her to hurl the contents of the bottle at him, to pour it over themselves even…but never the thought that she would satisfy her thirst at this dire time.

After draining the last of the stinging liquid, she felt her eyes prickle with tears from the repulsive spray as the vampire loomed over her, closing the distance between them…slowly…slowly…

_There._

Inhaling deeply, she spat out the spray at the hooded figure, the droplets flew rather impressively at the other's face, whom was too stunned to pull away. The chili water pelted onto the vampire's eyes, and he screamed in pain (A rather manly one at that), and drew his palms up to clutch his face in agony as the torturous burning sensation blinded his vision almost instantly. His hood fell back when he stumbled backwards, and the sibling's eyes widened at the sight of blood red hair slipping into view, gleaming in the soft moonlight.

The older blonde had never felt so indebted to her mother for placing a bottle full of chili water there for convenience sake; to spray and rid the indoor plants of unwanted pests.

Ino then grabbed her brother and ran out of the house, biting her lip hard enough to break skin as she tried to brush off the burning sensation from the chili water clawing up her parched throat. Their mother, who was just on her way home, had her breath knocked out of her when her children hurled themselves into her arms, upset beyond belief. To say she was shocked was clearly an understatement.

When they reached home after much reassuring on their mother's part, the man was gone; and the house was left in its chaotic state. They cleaned the mess silently, bandaged up Deidara's wounds. Their mother was jittery the whole night, her face screwed up in a despondent and pained expression while deep in thought. The night was never spoken of again, at least not freely.

**-End of flashback-**

That was possibly their first and last encounter with such a creature.

XOXOXO

_**4 years later**_

Life went on quite smoothly after that. Their mother had decided after that event that it was too dangerous to leave them at home by themselves, and the two blondes were dropped off at a day care and picked up by her personally before and after work respectively everyday.

The two siblings spent their day occupying themselves with drab toys, games, and whatever they could think of to do away with their boredom. Gradually, the fear that night was pushed to a distant memory in their heads, and the youngest found himself wondering once again on the cause of his father's death and the 'bad guy' dubbed by his sister that attacked them that night.

When he was younger, he remembered, a few days after the incident that night, his mother sat down solemnly to discuss something with them. "What you did that night was right," she began. "If you see any of those types of bad people again, don't hesitate to run and find me," she said calmly, the expression on her face nothing short of dead seriousness. The two siblings had glanced at each other, mutually understanding each other's thoughts.

The two gathered in his sister's room to talk frequently.

"I want to go out," Deidara grumbled. The younger blond was staring longingly out of the shut window, pursing his lips in annoyance. "Why can't we go out?" The younger was currently propped up against the window sill in his sister's room, resting his chin on his palm in boredom.

His sister sat stiffly on her bed, casting her eyes onto the floor. Ino bit her lip, swinging her legs back and forth restlessly as she replied, "Mum would be mad if you try to sneak out, Dei."

Her brother stiffened, taking a gander at the remote outside surroundings before shooting a cheeky grin at his sister. "Who said I wanted to sneak out, un?"

His sister turned to meet his gaze, giving him a critical look. "Don't do it."

Deidara snorted, turning away quickly to gaze dreamily outside again. "Mum wouldn't know anyway, un," he murmured. "I'll just sneak out and sneak back in again. No one will have to know," he continued, fidgeting slightly.

"No," his sister growled, sitting up to glare at her brother. "I will know. And I'm not going to sit back and watch you wander outside alone."

"Aren't you curious why we can't go out all the time, un?" Deidara growled, facing his sister.

The elder blonde looked down momentarily, lost in thought. "Of course I am," she started, "but I know Mum does this for a good reason." The younger was about to retort when his sister cut him off quickly, "And I'm not about to question her actions."

"Fine un," Deidara turned away. "…but you still can't tell me what to do," he continued stubbornly.

"I'm your sister! And I care about you," she said, her voice dropping to just above a whisper. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to you." she looked at her brother sadly.

Deidara's gaze softened. "Nothing will happen to me, you don't need to worry un," he said, his heart still firmly set on sneaking out of the house.

"At least think twice about this," Ino said almost pleadingly. The younger nodded begrudgingly, knowing he was not able to change his sister's mind.

Of course, driven by his abash and audacious nature, he never listened to his sister.

Review! :)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Thanks for reviews, favs and subs last chapter peeps! :D It means a lot! Anyway here's the next chapter…hope you like it~

Oh the hooded figure from last chapter wasn't Sasori, if you thought so…you will know who it was later on…

Chapter 2

_**That night**_

The ten year old twitched slightly before cracking open one azure eye. He looked around carefully, scanning the dark room for any traces of life. It was late at night, and he assumed his mother had already gone to bed after her nightly routine of tucking him and his sister into bed.

Sitting up on his bed, the blond reached for his bedside table and pulled open the first drawer. He reached into it, brushing his fingers through various objects till he found what he wanted. Grasping the torchlight out, he looked around for extra measure. Spotting his bronze necklace lying on the table, he grinned and picked it up, sliding it around his neck and locking it in place with a clasp. It had been a gift from his mother some years ago, and he had treasured it more than anything at that given time. He still did, considering the ornament something akin to a lucky charm of some sort.

He could hear his sister's light snores drifting from her room opposite his, and some restless shuffling of sheets from behind his parent's shut door. His mother was still awake, thus he had to be extra cautious when sneaking out. She had not been sleeping much lately, and he was worried for her health.

He pulled out a pair of slippers he kept in his room, shoving his feet in them.

He wanted to seize this opportunity to take a look around outside. He fingered the torchlight nervously and headed towards his bedroom window, which was bolted firmly from the inside to keep the unwanted out.

Deidara snorted slightly, twisting the lock lever upwards sharply. If there were really inhuman things out there, how can such an insignificant thing like bolted windows stop them?

Upon hearing the satisfactory click of the window unlocking, he pushed against the window pane with all his might, managing to open it to a reasonable gap for him to crawl through. Clutching the window sill, he began to heave himself out through the open window. Thank god his window bore no grills to obstruct his way out.

He fell onto the grass and let out a short yelp of surprise upon successfully getting out of his room. Standing up, he dusted himself off and scanned his environment in utmost curiosity.

He had not been out for a very long time, he realized as he glanced around the silent neighborhood, the stillness of the night wrapping around the blond like a blanket.

He did not know why, but he had never gone to school. His mother home schooled him and his sister, hardly letting them go outside unless it was completely necessary. The neighborhood did not have a school, apparently. They deemed it too dangerous to have children attend school by themselves a few years ago, his mother told him. If he asked further the reasons to why they weren't allowed to go anywhere independently, his mother would answer, "You will understand when you grow up."

The blond huffed irately at the thought, quickly pushing it to the back of his mind.

He shivered slightly as the cold air bit his skin, and began grumbling about not thinking ahead and wearing a jacket. Clad in a hoodie and a pair of denim, he wandered around, slightly lost before stopping at a road junction. The chilly wind tickled the shell of his ear, causing the hair on the appendage to stand unnervingly. He shuddered, hugging himself in an effort to preserve some body heat as he crossed the desolate road.

"It looks so uninhabited," he muttered.

The walkways were empty, the houses were dark, street lamps flickered with an unsteady light; and no cars were around at this hour. The perfect setting for a horror movie, he mused with slight amusement, trying to dispel the eerie feeling crawling up his spine. 'After all,' he thought flippantly, 'there was no such thing such as supernatural creatures…was there?'

After that night, he wasn't so sure anymore. Their mother had told them that the man was a robber or thief out to rob them of their valuables that night, disregarding his and his sister's qualms about the creature being inhuman. They both knew the creature that night was not a human.

The blond rubbed his arms, in hopes that the friction will create some warmth.

Hearing a soft shuffle of footsteps to his right, he swiveled his head around, alarmed. A hunched figure was traipsing slowly on the unpaved road headed in the opposite direction, head bowed low and covered by a black cap.

The figure was short and petite in build; one look and Deidara could tell it was a mere child, probably even younger than himself. The child, sensing a presence on its right, jumped slightly in jitteriness. It scanned Deidara with edgy look and continued shuffling its way, quickening its pace.

'What was child doing out so at night?' he mused, before brushing the thought away. He was also strolling around the streets at this ungodly hour anyway; that wasn't a valid question. 'Probably just rushing home,' he decided.

Ambling into an alley to his left, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, continuing to observe his quiet surroundings airily. 'Nothing much interesting so far,' he thought, clicking his tongue. 'I don't understand why Mum refuses to let us out at night.'

A sudden scream behind him drew him out of his mulling instantly, and the ten year old felt his heart skip a beat. He quickly ran out of the alley and looked around in trepidation, searching for the source of the scream.

The young boy froze when he saw the capped child from earlier pressed up against an alley wall harshly, a hooded figure pinning the child to the concrete surface with a hand grasped firmly around its neck. The boy could only let out several choked sounds and incoherent garble due to the force crushing his windpipe, his silent pleads gone seemingly unnoticed.

The hooded figure grinned eerily at the helpless child, sending chills down the blond's spine and his blood running cold.

The figure leaned down to the child's ear, whispering softly into it. The child, upon hearing what the other had to say, began to struggle valiantly against his smirking captor. The child's cap fell off in the hustle, revealing raven locks and the doe brown eyes of a boy, wide in evident fear.

The hooded person grimaced down at the thrashing boy in antipathy, before revealing two sharp fangs which he didn't hesitate to sink into the boy's exposed neck.

The blond felt his eyes widen in unsaid horror. His whole body was frozen on the spot, and he could not tear his eyes away from the scene either; almost akin to watching a car accident transpiring right before one's eyes.

The boy's desperate struggles ceased after a few seconds, two pale arms dropping to his sides limply.

The hooded figure then pulled back with apparent satisfaction, licking his pallid lips slowly. Two steady streams of blood trickled down from the where the figure had pulled away from, running down the boy's skin which was now as pale as marble.

The hooded figure then released his hold on the boy's throat, letting the body drop lifelessly with a soft 'thump' on the paving.

It was over in only mere minutes. Deidara felt his legs go weak, and he blinked slowly to try to process what had just transpired before his very eyes. Almost disbelievingly, he gazed from the boy's motionless figure on the ground to the standing hooded man.

The boy was… _dead?_ _What the hell_ did the guy do?

The hooded figure turned around abruptly, sharp eyes locking with the blond's wide ones. One word rang in his mind at that very instant. _Run. _

He did not know what he had just witnessed, all he knew was that he had obviously walked in on something he was not supposed to walk in on; and by what he had just perceived, the guy wasn't very approachable.

Willing his jelly-like legs to move, he tore his eyes away from the other's gaze and ran frantically in the general direction of his abode. Shit, he needed to_ get away from this place_. Hearing swift footsteps trailing him, he didn't have to turn back to know the guy was in hot pursuit of him.

Fuck approachable, that guy was probably going to kill him.

Taking shuddering gasps of air, he could only hear the frantic pounding of his heart in his ears albeit the slapping of the soles of his slippers against the pavement. He found himself cussing at his draft selection of footwear. His head was feeling like lead, the heaviness from the abnormal blood concentration was blurring his vision.

Why in hell did he actually think this was a good idea in the first place? Internally berating himself, he squeezed his eyes shut, hearing the footsteps behind him come closer.

Never in his life was he going to go out in the night again. One insane part of him was spurring him to turn around and face the guy to settle their problems. 'Just talk to him! He might be a nice guy!' He growled softly, before settling on running for his life. He was not willing to take any chances.

A soft chuckle came from behind him, laced with a subtle hint of amusement. Goosebumps were sent popping up all over his skin. That laugh somewhat reminded him of_ that night_.

His shoulders were grabbed roughly from behind, and before he had a chance to scream, a smooth hand was slapped onto his mouth. Half kicking and whining, his unseen captor kept a hard grip on him as it dragged the failing blonde from behind to a nearby alley.

As soon as they were hidden away from any prying eyes, the cloaked man snatched the blond up by his hoodie and pinned him to a wall. The boy's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, glazed over with fear as his captor gave him another forceful shove against the concrete, growling in annoyance beneath the ebony black hood.

The hood slipped off his head soundlessly, revealing silky red tresses. The other gasped inaudibly upon recognizing the rare hair colour.

Was this the same thing that attacked them that night? It didn't seem so though… this guy was visibly shorter and slimmer in build than compared to the one four years ago. In fact, he seemed only a few years older than him.

He began to attempt to kick himself free. Its times like these that made him regret not bringing chili spray before going off to do something that could potentially endanger his life. The red head scowled at the blond's pathetic attempt to break free.

He brought his lips close to the other's ear, muttering softly. "I would love to end your insignificant life right now," he said indifferently, before giving the blond another hard shove against the wall. His tone was as cold as ice, and the blond felt a shiver run through his body.

"However, I've already eaten tonight," he snarled softly. "Consider yourself extremely fortunate."

The other blinked his single azure eye, trembling crazily as he was thrown rather uncaringly on the ground. His hand twisted awkwardly in an effort to stop his fall, and he winced. The presently unhooded man gazed down at the shaken blond, before bending down to grab the other's chin and forcing the boy to stare into his eyes.

Azure eyes met muddy browns, and the blond found himself temporarily mesmerized by the depth of the other's passive gaze, before snapping back to the full reality of the situation.

"You will tell no one of what you just witnessed tonight if you want to live."

Deidara inwardly cringed at the the red head's threatening voice, gulping slowly before hurriedly nodding his head to the threat. The red head gave a grunt before loosening his grip on the blond's chin. He began to turn away much to the blond's immense relief. The red head paused shortly, tilting his chin up slightly. "What's this?"

Deidara felt his body visibly stiffen as he felt the necklace clipped around his neck shift, the cold metal of the chain brushing against his neck with the movements. "Don't touch that, un." he growled.

The red head raised a fiery eyebrow, studying the intricately carved bronze bird in his hand. The metal gleamed alluringly in the dull moonlight, reflecting the light rays cleanly off its shiny surface.

The blond actually had the audacity to threaten him in this situation. That certainly differed from most of his other prey. They were generally more…compliant when their lives were on the line.

"Is it that precious to you?" The red head sneered questioningly, fingering the smooth ornament. Receiving no answer from the tight lipped blond, he sighed.

"…I'll be taking this in exchange for sparing your life." Without waiting for a response, the red head gave a sharp tug at the necklace, and the blond gasped as the necklace dug into his neck painfully before giving a crisp snap and sliding off from his neck. He sported a startled look for a moment, before registering his words and growling threateningly at the red head.

"Hey! Give that back, un!"

The red head smiled smugly at the blond, before straightening up and pocketing the necklace with ease. "…I don't think I will."

The ten year old bristled with fury, his previous fear pushed to a distant memory. Who did this guy think he is? Threatening his life? Acceptable. Being manhandled? Somewhat acceptable. Stealing his necklace? Crossing the line. His priorities were messed up, but he didn't care.

He lunged at the other, and missed his target miserably as the red head calmly side stepped him. "Give it back!" he growled, getting up quickly to glare at the smirking red head.

"No." Was he teasing him?

Giving another animalistic snarl, he lunged at the other again and smashed headfirst into the ground. The red head looked at the other disinterested look, already bored with the blond's futile attempts to retrieve his necklace. "Maybe I will, if I ever see you again, brat."

The blond looked up quickly at the other's placid response, face smeared with random bits debris.

The red head was gone.

The alleyway was yet again as desolate as it had been, and he was left sprawled on the ground. He glanced up briefly, before smashing his fist in rage against the paving. Damn.

Getting up slowly, he glanced down at his dirt ridden shirt and tried to sweep as much dust away as he could.

Looking down at his fist which was clenched tightly all the while, he smirked slightly. Unclenching the fisted hand, and sliver of metal gleamed in the streetlight.

Deidara fingered the ring languidly, silently admiring the beauty of the ornament. The ring seemed to be made of some type of silvery metal, and an amethyst shaded gem embedded on top of it. Upon closer inspection, an inky black kanji could be seen. At least he had gotten something from the red head in return.

He sighed and pocketed the ring. He will examine it later. Deidara began walking, albeit stumbling slightly towards his home with a small groan.

His neck felt empty, as if a void was left behind when his necklace was removed. He should have listened to his sister. He had almost lost his life and had his necklace taken as compensation. At least he knew one of the reasons why his mother kept them at home most of the time was to prevent such thief's.

'But in this case the thief was also robbed in return,' he grinned bitterly.

Spotting his house when he walked down the familiar pathway, he groaned. His mother would be downright pissed if she found out what had happened, he decided. All the more to keep her in the dark.

Deidara treaded carefully across the overgrown lawn, and pulled himself over the agape window. His lost his footing due to his growing fatigue, and landed in a disgruntled heap on his bedroom floor. He pulled his sleepy body under the covers, not even bothering to remove his slippers. His sister would most likely barrage him with plethora of 'I told you so' and unbidden concern if she found out. He sighed, before drifting off into an antsy sleep.

XOXOXO

_**Next Morning**_

"You look terrible."

"Shut up, un."

Deidara yawned for the umpteenth time that morning, cupping his mouth in to preserve some tactfulness. He was leaning indolently against the kitchen counter, trying to pour himself a cup tea, but failing miserably.

The two siblings were in the kitchen preparing their breakfast, whist their mother was in the living area browsing through the television channels. Not like they had much of a selection anyway; they weren't that rich to afford subscribing to others.

Ino stood at a distance, giving her brother an amused look as he attempted complete the mundane task of tilting the hot water flask to his mug. Exhaustion was getting the better of him, and his vision to wavered slightly.

A slight throb from his sprained wrist and an involuntary twitch of his hand had the flask he was so precariously tilting drop onto the his half-filled mug, and the hot water spilt onto his idle hand.

Hissing in pain, Deidara quickly righted the fallen flask and stepped over the hot water pooling on the floor. Holding out his scalded hand to the sink, he turned on the tap quickly, letting the running water cool off his sore skin.

His sister entered the kitchen with a bundle of toilet paper, and proceeded to kneel down on the floor to dab up the spilt liquid. She shook her head, turning to gaze at her frazzled sibling. "Is your hand okay?"

The younger blond nodded his head, watching the rivulets of water trickle lazily down his hand. He had woken up in restless state that morning, and upon examining himself in the mirror, black rings which had appeared overnight circled his eyes. Trying to file the night's events away to some corner of his mind, he had dragged his heavy feet to the bathroom to wash up, and without much thought, plunging his head into a basin of water to wake himself up.

"You seem very tired this morning."

"Nightmare," Deidara answered nonchalantly, wiping his hand off the sink towel and picking up the hot water flask again with a sigh.

Ino threw the soaked paper in the dustbin, and snatched the flask from his shaky hand. "Oh no, you don't."

Deidara gave her a sheepish look of silent appreciation, and handed his mug to his sister. "Thanks."

His sibling nodded and swiftly poured the hot water into the mug, submerging a tea bag into the liquid and stirring it slowly. An emerald colour gradually tinted the transparent water, and she passed it to Deidara who accepted it gratefully.

He sipped the hot water cautiously, closing his eyes as his body basked in the pleasant warm sensation. He felt his body go lax, and he sighed contentedly, letting his warm breath escape through his lips. Ino stared intently at her brother opposite the table, stirring her cup of tea languidly.

"So," she began, putting up an indifferent attitude as she brought the tea to her lips. "How was your walk last night?"

Deidara promptly spit out the green tea, gagging slightly. He wiped away the remaining liquid dribbling out his mouth with his sleeve, staring at his sister incredulously.

"How did you know?" he asked, glancing outside the kitchen in slight apprehension that his mother may have overheard their discourse.

Ino blinked at him. "I didn't."

"Then how did you…?"

"You were mentioning it last night," Ino shrugged. "And I asked you that question to see if you really carried out your plan. Judging by your reaction, I guess you did."

Deidara relaxed slightly, but his body was still tense. "So…you didn't spy on me?"

"Nope," the older blonde confirmed, putting down her mug. "I had better things to do than following you creep around the neighborhood at night."

"Like what?"

Ino gave him a passive look. "Sleeping."

The younger exhaled slowly in relief, slumping on the table. At least his sister still had no idea what had occurred last night. He hoped she did not ask…

"I thought you cared about me?" he said, feigning hurt as he clutched his chest.

His sister rolled her eyes playfully, reaching across the table to give him a poke in his chest. "I do, idoit. But I assumed you knew what you were doing last night. I'm glad to see you alive this morning; if that's what you wanted to hear."

Her brother grinned, clapping his hands together. "I knew it! You do care about me!"

Ino sighed, shaking her head at her brother's melodramatic antics. Time to steer to the more serious stuff. "Anyhow, how was your walk last night?" Deidara looked down at his tea hesitantly. "Nothing much." Yeah right.

His sister shot him a dubious look, and was about to reply when she was cut off by their mother calling from the living room. "I'm about to leave for work soon, hurry up and pack your things!" The two siblings glanced at each other before placing their unfinished drinks in the sink, and raced each other upstairs. "We'll talk about this later," she muttered, to which he absentmindedly nodded at before parting ways to their room.

Deidara traipsed over to his desk, picking up his small compact bag that he brought everyday to the day care and slinging it casually on his shoulder. He then went to his bedside table, staring at it blankly for a long moment.

What was it he was supposed to take again? Repeating this routine of gathering his stuff before leaving for the day care every day when his mother had to leave for work had become so habitual that he almost functioned in clockwork, not really registering what he packed in.

He remembered vividly that he was supposed to take something here. After digging his brain for a few minutes, he grumbled and turned away. Curse his failing memory.

Passing by the mirror on the way out, he caught a glimpse of his shoddy look and paused, running his fingers a few times through his fringe. He adjusted his crooked collar, staring at his empty neck for a few seconds before it struck him. _His necklace_.

So that was what he was supposed to take from his bedside table every morning.

He scowled, internally bristling as he stormed out of his room. "Hey Dei-" The younger blond looked up, sporting a very ugly glare. His sister clammed up immediately, knowing something was obviously bothering her sibling. She had no idea what it was, but judging by the ire that was practically rolling off him in waves, it was something that she had better not probe into.

They silently made their way downstairs, and waited in the living room for their mother.

Deidara shifted around in unease, as he glared down at the floor. He raised a hand to feel around his slender neck. It felt so _bare_. He continued rubbing it gingerly, as if hoping the solid feel of movement would eradicate some of the vacantness.

"Whats up with your neck?"

The blond pointedly ignored Ino's question, his face crumpled up in frustration. Damn red head. He was clearly the source of his vexation and irascibility. Why would he even want with a petty necklace anyway? Probably for the monetary value, but he highly doubted so. It was probably bought at a cheap price, affordable enough for his mother to purchase it.

However, it wasn't the financial worth that mattered, was it? It was obviously the attachment and bond he had with it.

The blond felt his frown deepen, and due to his deep musings, he failed to notice his sister approach him. Still, it could fetch some bucks. He really hoped the red head did not sell it, but the probability was there. Who goes around looting people without the intention of procuring profit from it? It was rhetorical question, and he knew it. The next time, if he ever saw the red head again, he definitely needed to proceed with more caution; and demand the necklace back if he still had it. _Without losing his life_. God _what_ even was the red-

"Where's your necklace?" Ino suddenly piped up, appearing behind him suddenly.

The younger blond gave a yelp of shock, jumping away from his sister. "God what? You scared me!" he groaned, rubbing his chest.

"Your necklace," his sister continued, ignorant to the heart attack she nearly gave her brother. "Where is it? You always wear it."

Deidara sighed, running his hand through his fringe. Ino noticed he tended to do that when he was nervous or hesitant, and that peeked her curiosity. "…I left it in my bag," he muttered, turning away from her and facing the television.

"Bullshit," his sister said almost instantly, staring intently at Deidara.

"You wear it all the time. Remember that time mum zipped it in her bag when we were out to swim because she didn't want it to get lost?"

She paused, "And when you found out, you went into a frenzy and dumped the contents of the bag onto the floor to retrieve your necklace. I don't think that is a very valid excuse, Dei." She stopped expectantly, gazing at her brother's back.

Deidara bit his lip. He really wanted to avoid telling his sister about what had happened. He certainly did not want her fussing over this matter, especially since he was the one who 'caused' it by sneaking out.

He pondered for a long moment, and was only drawn out of it when his sister spoke.

"Look, the police found some dead body last night."

He glanced up at the television screen so swiftly that any faster could have gotten him a whiplash.

He felt his eyes widen when he saw a partially recognizable body lying unmoving on the ground, the boy's raven hair still discernable against the commotion around his still body. The quad in the alley where he had fallen on had been cordoned off as well; the yellow and black strikingly distinguishable between the blobs of navy blue which were the police, rushing around to collect evidence.

It was that boy he saw last night, he realized with dismal. The scenes of the boy struggling vainly against the red head before being losing his life mercilessly to him had been firmly etched into his mind, and he quickly shook it away from his thoughts to prevent his stomach from cramping up in nausea.

"There had been a struggle, as bruises and blood stains could be clearly seen on his neck. This has no doubt been one of the unknown murders, and so far there have been no solid proof or evidence," a stout looking policeman said to the interviewer, his heavily obese form portraying his obvious negligence in his work.

"The police are still investigating this case along with the previous others, and they would appreciate it if the public would help chip in to by bringing any evidence or solid proof of the perpetrator to the police immediately." The policeman paused, and turned around to glance at the body.

He felt the blood drain from his face. No evidence? How could that be? He dreaded the fact that he possibly the only one who encountered these 'murderers' and lived, though that brought along a tinge of thrill rushing through his veins.

"Deidara?" his sister had noticed his obvious discomfort, and was on the brink of suspecting he had something to do with it. The blond turned around to look at Ino mechanically, forcing a faux grin onto his face. "Yeah, I know. Another dead body, huh…" He trailed off, and Ino glanced at him and squinted her eyes skeptically.

"Let's go," Deidara said abruptly, turning away from the television as his mother traipsed down the stairs. His sister frowned, but remained silent as she followed her family out of the door.

Deidara groaned internally as his sister automatically planted herself next to him as they walked.

"So," she probed, "last night you didn't happen to see who killed the guy?" Deidara shot her an appraising look. "Nope, the neighborhood was as drab as always," he said casually, shoving his hands in his pockets.

His fingernails instantly tapped against a hard object, and he cussed under his breath. He apparently forgot to remove the ring from his pocket last night. He glanced around uneasily, half expecting the red head from last night to pop out from any possible corner.

Ino growled softly. "Are you listening to me?"

Deidara blinked and quickly pulled his hands out of his pockets, giving his sister a cheeky grin, "Nope."

His sister gave a scowl, "I said, so what did you see last night then?"

"See what last night?" their mother queried from the side, and it occurred to him that she was eavesdropping on part of their conversation.

Deidara froze. Goddamn. Ino had better not reveal to their mother that he had gone out last night. Ino paused, giving her mother a startled look, before swiftly covering it up with a grin. "Nothing, just that Deidara couldn't sleep last night…and…uh…"

"…and I went to the kitchen to get some milk, I saw something move and that scared me…" he added in quickly, casting his sister a sharp glance.

"…so he went to wake me up in his fit of alarm, I was mad, so I was asking him what he saw last night." Ino finished with a flourish, giving her tense brother a peeved look for good measure.

"Oh," their mother said, and her shoulders sagged noticeably in relief. It was pretty lucid to both siblings that she had immediately assumed he had gone out last night. "It was probably just rats, Dei. Nothing to worry about." Her mother said, smiling somewhat comfortingly down at her son. Deidara smiled back in response, nodding promptly to end the discourse.

He sighed in relief, and his sister gave him another wary look. He didn't need to clarify to know that this wasn't the end of their conversation.

They soon arrived at the all so familiar drab yellow building of the neighborhood day care, the supposedly bright colour was dulled by age and gradual wear and tear, leaving a dirty yellow shade to adorn the walls.

Their mother wasted no time in handing them over to the overly preppy staff there, the bubbly smile the staff girl was sporting already irking him.

Watching his mother give a final wave to them as she headed out of the door way, he reached into his bag and fumbled around before fishing out a pair of earphones. Pulling out his fuchsia phone, he gave the colour a distasteful look before plugging in his earphones and shoving the ear buds into his ears. He had never dreamed of owning anything with such a 'girly' colour, but the fact that he even owned a phone would be deemed fortunate by others.

The phone was a gift for him for his birthday two years ago, from his uncle who migrated to live in Japan after that for 'work opportunities'.

He had been living with them, but fled to 'greener pastures' so as he dubbed, coincidentally when the killings started taking place. Two years ago. They had never heard of him again. It was as clear as day that had been an excuse.

The whole situation was bizarre, really. It was like some mysterious person moved into the neighborhood two years ago with killing as his happy hobby. Huh.

His sister had turned to him almost the instant their mother was out of sight, ready to continue with her questioning; had it not been her brother who blasted music into his ears to block her out and scratch out her plan.

Deidara felt his pocket for the ring as his sister walked away to the computer lab, seemingly defeated. Touching the cool metal brought some reassurance to him, as though it reminded him of his lost necklace.

He brought it out of its clothed confines, studying it with fresh curiosity. Squinting at the kanji within the gem, he held it to the sunlight to see it better. The rays reflected off the gem, shining a brilliant magenta shade. "Gyoku" he mused, meaning "Jewel" in easier terms. What did that mean? No one would obviously label a ring as 'jewel'.

How would it look on him, anyway? He blinked at the sudden thought, and pushed the ring through his right index finger, staring at it in unspoken marvel for a few seconds.

Although, he chuckled, it would look better in blue.

Review! :P


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Phew...thanks for the support guys! :) It means a lot to me if you bother to drop a review, really~~ :D Im going for an outdoor camp (forced, really) for almost the whole of next week, so I will be exhausted when I come back...pray that I'll survive :c It may take some time for the next chap to be posted…but I'll try my best… :/

So this will mainly be Sasori's point of view of that night…

Chapter 3

_**Trace back previous night**_

The red head threw the blond on the ground, smirking inwardly when he saw him quaking in fear. Oh, he relished the power he held over his prey. It was unfortunate, however, that he had already feasted that night. His aggravating thirst was already satisfied by that raven haired child, and he had no need to end this blond's life. Unfortunately.

He would have loved to sink his teeth into the boy's neck, see him attempt to cry out in hysteria-and ultimately fail. He was rather affronted that the blond had managed to witness him in the act even through his allegedly superior stealth and precautionary measures. Nothing really personal, really. Just insulting.

The blond seemed quite protective of that necklace of his though-enough to probably speak out against him. Another stab to his pride. His audacity was what lured him to the piece of ornament in the first place, and he was mildly curious.

Seeing his reaction to him taking his necklace was rather gratifying, though. After several attempts of the blond trying to forcibly take his precious necklace back, he grew bored quickly, and decided to leave him hanging by running off with it.

'He must be fuming,' the red head mused with amusement as he soon arrived at a face of a huge rock some way into the forest, halting in his tracks. Running at superhuman speed didn't take a lot out of him. Nothing at all actually, when you were already honed with such abilities.

Pausing shortly, he pressed his hand firmly against the smooth rock, before his palm shifted swiftly over the surface with a speed unrecognizable as human. The rock made a soft rumble when he was done, and a rectangular door was traced in the rock in front of the red head, sliding sideways to allow him to enter.

Upon entering the cave like structure, the red head stepped onto the tiled floor, and traipsed forward into the dark abyss. A soft tap on his left informed him of another occupant in the cave, and the red head turned around to meet twin pools of ink. The red head smirked upon realizing it was his friend, and relaxed instinctively. "Itachi," he greeted.

The raven nodded in acknowledgement, before narrowing both his eyes at the red head.

"Pein wants to see you," he said curtly, blinking at the red head slowly. "What did you do this time?"

The red head shrugged nonchalantly, although the action was veiled by the darkness. His friend could sense his movements however, and gave him a dubious look expressed through his narrowed eyes, before turning away.

The red head sighed and begun making his way to Pein's den. That man was the leader of this whole horde of vampires currently in hiding and leeching off the nearby neighborhood, which proved to be an ample food source. Thus as much as he wanted to ignore him and head to his own den to rest, respecting the other's wishes was just as crucial, if not more.

Tapping lightly on the mahogany door with his dark teal fingernails, he waiting for an indication to head in. All the doors in this hideout bore no knobs, weirdly enough. "Come in," a monotone voice replied, and the red head did not hesitate to push open the wooden door.

"Sasori," a carrot haired male said, nodding at the red head.

The leader was currently seated at his desk, with a few stacks of papers and files placed neatly at the sides of the desk. The room was devoid of most primary items, consisting only of a stereotypical round clock hanging next to the door and a plain oak bookshelf next to the desk.

"I take it as you know why you are here." The older man remarked placidly, studying the other intently whist in twining his fingers and resting his chin on it.

The red head shrugged stoically, returning the other's stare with equal intensity, "Actually I don't." Breaking their locked gazes, Sasori drifted to the bookshelf and randomly selected a book. He frowned at the dusty hardcover, and flipped to a random page. "Care to update me?"

Pein glowered at the red head's aloofness. "You ran into some trouble tonight," he said simply.

"So I've heard," the red head muttered wryly. Not once tearing his eyes off the book, he sighed, "That's all you wanted to see me for?"

The older man got up from his seat abruptly, sending the chair screeching rather unpleasantly across the tiles. The red head hardly flinched at the shrill noise, eyes still glued to the book. "That's all?" he remarked heatedly, eyes boring holes into the level headed teenager, "That's all?"

The red headed teen was tempted to look up and take in the other's appearance at the furious echo, but decided against it. "Is there a problem?" he said, annoyance colouring his voice and tone.

A strong gush of wind was felt and the red head felt his hair ruffle from the unexpected current of air. The book suddenly snapped shut, almost clipping his nose in the process. If he was astonished, his face clearly did not show it. Sasori looked up with clear irritation, and found himself face to face with the fuming leader.

"The problem," he hissed, face just inches away from the teen's, "concerns that human who had witnessed you feeding." He growled threateningly, and the red head looked unfazed by it. "Tell me, what would a human who can attest to these infamous murders do?"

"I kno-"

"Answer me!" The red head sighed audibly, staring defiantly at the other. "He would tell everyone," he murmured. "Exactly," Pein confirmed, narrowing his eyes. "After that what would happen?"

"Pei-"

"Answer the question!" the orange haired leader barked, and the teen scowled. "They would find out about us," he said.

"And they will not hesitate to attempt to exterminate us," the leader finished, now having a full out glare session with the teen. "Now, do you understand why it's a _problem_?" he growled, purposefully dragging out the last word.

The red head stayed silent, and the elder gave him a disapproving look, turning away. He walked back to his desk, dropping the hardcover carelessly on the desk, and calmly planted himself back down on the forgotten chair. "Now to settle the other issue," he said, once again resuming his previous complacent facade.

Sasori raised an eyebrow. What other issue?

"That human you let go managed to nab your ring." He stated bluntly, tapping a finger on the desk in deep thought.

His calm front came crashing down. "What?" Sasori blurted out, looking down at his left hand in exigency. His naked left thumb came into sight, and he felt his eyes widen. In a fit of denial, he began to rummage through his clothes.

The orange haired leader looked at the flustered teen in what seemed like amusement, as the red head looked anything but what he had been a few seconds ago.

"I suppose you didn't know?" Pein remarked with interest, whist the red head looked up darkly when he confirmed he no longer possessed his ring. "I'm going to kill that brat."

The leader shrugged. "You should have in the first place. That aside, the main priority now is to get your ring back. That very ring is the recognition of your affiliation to us, and others may assume you are an enemy. You might be killed," he reminded sharply.

The red head let out a low rumble in his throat akin to a growl. The leader gazed at him solemnly, rubbing his forehead in evident agitation. "I suppose I can't do anything much to prevent your death," he muttered, and the red head glared at him. "I could try to spread the news of your current predicament to the group as fast as I can; other than that I can't do much."

The leader looked up at the red head, taking in his disturbed look. "You want to prevent your own death?" The teen glanced up at him.

"Then you better find your ring, fast." Sasori scowled at his indifferent reply, pivoting on his heel and heading towards the exit. "Oh, and Sasori," he called from the back, watching as the teen swiveled around to face him. "What?" he scorned.

"Try not to die. Your ring, if ever recovered, would be given to Tobi if you fail," he grinned at him sadistically.

The red head twitched at the mention of the new 'member', or as Zetsu dubbed 'new meat', disturbingly enough.

Really, he didn't even know how that guy could qualify as a vampire. He wasn't officially in the group yet, due to the limited number of rings available. A moronic and hyper persona was typically what got on his nerves, seeing as it was an exact opposite to his stoic personality.

"If that's your way of spurring others to do their best, then thanks," he said dryly.

"Anytime," the leader said flippantly, waving his hand in the direction of the door in a dismissive gesture. "Now get out of my office. I need to settle other things."

He walked out of the doorway, running his fingers through his askew hair in frustration.

Damn blond.

Walking out into the branching hallways which were slightly illuminated by the dim artificial lighting, he pondered on ways to retrieve back that piece of infuriating object. The possibility of losing his life due to the absence of his ring did not worry him as much as it should; he was quite confident that he could fend off any ignorant vampires who were to attack him on his own.

After all, the ring he previously possessed was not just given to any amateur. The kanji which stood for him was Gyoku, which existed with nine other similar rings which were worn and made in the same fashion-they were only given to the true bloods of the organization. True bloods were typically stronger, and generally were blessed with more skill and finesse than the other vampires. The other vampires-those of non-true blood origin wore much simpler, bronze rings around their right middle finger.

The leader himself was a true blooded vampire as was he, and it was undeniably true that some of the others in the organization harbored a strong desire to get their paws on those rings.

Buried deep in his thoughts, he hardly noticed when he walked into the common room.

Some vampires too caught up in a game or too indulged in enjoying their free time scarcely bothered to look up at the newcomer, while others glanced up impassively from their activities, took a gander at the pensive red head before looking back down.

The only group that seemed to visibly acknowledge the red head's presence was gathered around a short table of around two feet tall, and the four occupants of said table looking up simultaneously from their game when the red head walked in.

"Sasori's back," Itachi commented quietly before placing down a card, "One Ace."

Zetsu looked up and glanced at the approaching red head before throwing three cards down onto the accumulating stack, "**Three Kings**." "I thought you said he had to meet Pein?" he queried. "Well he's back," Itachi replied, watching the other raven sitting across him as scanned the few cards he held before placing down a card.

"One Queen." he hissed, voice abnormally cracked, akin to a snake's low hiss. Even his features appeared scaly and dehydrated, and one's hands would itch to peel off the flaky skin. Quite unusual for a vampire.

Zetsu blinked slowly. "Cheat," he growled in a low baritone.

"Check it yourself, Zetsu-san." Orochimaru gestured to the stack flippantly and gave the other a devious smile as the Zetsu narrowed his eyes at him, reaching for the pile of cards and flipping the top-most one over. It was undoubtedly a Queen. The green haired boy felt his eyes widen in surprise momentarily before scowling and taking the whole stack of cards.

The navy haired vampire sitting a distance away from the table shook her head at the males 'gaming antics and looked back up at the Sasori currently walking dazedly past them, his eyebrows furrowed and forehead creased lightly as if deep in thought. She raised an eyebrow when the red headed male remained oblivious to their presence.

"Sasori," she called out softly. The red head instantly snapped out of his daze, looking towards the blue head with a harrowing look before the expression flickered to a look of surprise when he identified his friend.

"Konan,' he greeted amiably and sauntered over to the female vampire. Planting himself next to his friend, he sighed audibly.

"You seem concerned," Konan pointed out, as she studied Sasori's worried features.

The red head brushed aside his ruby bangs dangling in front of his eyes to have a better look at his friend who was currently pinning him with an unnerving look. "It's nothing," he replied, face resuming back to its usual stoic expression.

Konan gave him a disbelieving look before turning back to the table of male vampires. Sasori followed her gaze to the table he was sitting next to, which he noticed rather suddenly. He had to be really out of it if he actually failed to notice his friends sitting right beside him.

"Want to play?" Konan said from his side, and the red head shook his head, looking back down at his lap in thought.

"Sasori!" Zetsu greeted cheerfully, looking up from his deck of cards. "How was your meeting with Pein?" The red head glanced up and frowned, "None of your business." A raspy growl was heard, and the Zetsu shrugged, throwing down a card. "You don't need to be rude."

Itachi looked over his cards before meeting Sasori's gaze coolly, noting his distraught look. The red head felt a twinge of discomfort at the raven's calculating look.

"What?" he scowled, narrowing his eyes. Every true blooded vampire had an innate ability, unique and one of a kind, though slightly similar to that who share their bloodline. Itachi had the ability to read other's thoughts, probing into said person's mind. An experienced vampire would know how to put up a mental block in their heads to prevent this unwanted action, though, which Sasori immediately did so when the other's onyx eyes turned a shade of red, a telltale sign of him attempting to do so.

"Go away, Itachi." The red head said scathingly. The raven frowned slightly, his eyes returning back to its normal colour. Itachi looked him over once again before returning his attention back to the game.

Konan hummed softly beside him, looking up at the red head with a knowing look. "You do know that the leader will be making an announcement this morning," she informed, and the surprised look on Sasori's face said it all. "Anyway, be at the main room at five sharp."

"I can't," the red head said grudgingly, unconsciously looking towards his left hand. The female vampire raised an eyebrow, following his gaze. Her eyes widened in shock momentarily, and she gave the red head an indiscernible stare. "Where is your r-" Sasori looked up instantly and glared.

"Oh," Konan said after a moment's thought, "Where is it?" she said quietly.

The red head looked away in what seemed like embarrassment. "My prey nabbed it," he replied sourly. "Your prey?" she said, tone lifted in shock, "Why didn't you-"

"I only knew just now," he muttered.

Konan shut her gaping mouth, nodding in understanding. "So that was what your meeting with Pein was about."

The red head nodded, and spared his left hand a glance again, scowling deeply. "I was planning to get it back after this break..." "…but you can't make it back at five," Konan finished.

Sasori sighed. "Can you inform Pein of the cause my absence?"

Konan seemed to ponder this for a while, before replying, "No." The red head narrowed his eyes in distress. "I need to get the ring back," he growled.

"That can wait," Konan said.

"What?"

"Pein requires full attendance for this meeting. The news he wishes to share is of full importance, I guess."

Sasori sighed in defeat. "Then it can wait, I guess." Konan smiled slightly. "You might want to go to your room to freshen up," she prompted, pointing at his cloak. "There's blood on your clothes." The red head looked down at his garments and gave a grunt, getting up and heading towards the corridors. Stopping at the doorway, he shoved the vampire leaning against it out of the way uncaringly.

"Sasori, going so soon?" Orochimaru hissed after the teen in amusement.

"I'm going too," Itachi murmured suddenly, getting up and shoving his remaining card to the conveniently seated blue head next to him. "What? You too?" the snake like vampire hissed in irritation. Itachi pushed his way through the exit, sending the annoyed vampire who was getting up from the floor and muttering about 'rude true bloods' sprawling yet again on the ground.

Konan cleared her throat awkwardly, and the remaining two male vampires glanced at her.

She placed down Itachi's lone card and grinned at them sardonically. "One Ace. Game."

The two vampires groaned, slapping their remaining cards onto the table. "Rematch?" she asked brightly.

XOXOXO

Upon entering his room, Sasori pulled off his cloak hastily, throwing the stained garment into the basket placed rather conveniently beside his bed. Glancing down at the dirtied white singlet and navy jeans he had on, he realized with annoyance that he needed to take a bath.

Sparing a glance at the wall clock hung just above his bed, he groaned internally. The meeting was going to start in less than an hour. He wasn't feeling exactly that chipper after that night's feeding.

Walking over to his neatly made bed, he frowned at sheets. The bed never seemed as appealing as it did now. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to rest his eyes for a moment, he let out a heavy breath, looking towards the clock again. Right, only for a few minutes.

He would have collapsed onto the sheets at that very moment if not for a quick knock, alerting him of the presence outside his door. Jolting out of his pre-slumber state, the red head stormed over to his door and threw it open harshly. Sasori blinked a few times at the raven standing there, his hand raised in a half-knock.

He frowned at the other, irritation rolling off him in waves. "What do you want, Itachi?"

The raven took in the red head's cranky look for a long moment, before lowering his hand. "May I come in?"

Slightly taken aback by the other's unusual request, he paused, staring at the raven incredulously. "…Why?"

"Hmm?" the raven glanced at the red head before gesturing into his room, "I wanted to confirm something."

"In my room?" the red head said, baffled.

"Yes," Itachi replied blandly, "Now let me in and you can continue taking your nap."

"I wasn't going t-"

"I don't really care," Itachi deadpanned.

Sighing, the red head moved to the side to let the raven enter.

Itachi surveyed the immaculately clean room slowly, before walking towards a few life-like puppets hanging on the wall. Sasori raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised at the raven's sudden interest in them. He watched the raven look over the nine different lifeless faces of the puppets before stopping in front of one.

"…I didn't know you had interest in art," the red head said, looking over the raven's shoulder to catch a glimpse at the puppet he was looking at.

The raven looked over at Sasori, before turning back to scrutinize the puppet. "I don't," he replied.

Frowning, the red head opened his mouth, ready to chase the raven out of his room. Itachi spoke suddenly, cutting off the red head. "So these were once alive?" he queried, voice holding a tint of curiosity to it as he stared rather warily at the puppet's face.

"Yes," Sasori confirmed; the words he wanted to say before dying in his throat. It was true; he had put a lot of effort into turning those lifeless bodies of his prey into finely made puppets.

They were useless after all, those cold bodies. He had come to conclusion long ago that converting those lucky people into art would not only solve the problem of disposing them after he was done feeding, but also keeping himself occupied when he had time to spare.

They would live eternally as well, never decaying, never changing. Well technically, they weren't alive anymore, but that was well beside the point. He had done them a favor by granting them immortality.

A crazed grin wormed up to his face at his own internal rant. The raven gave him a guarded look, before pointing at that specific puppet. "Where did you get this?"

Snapping back to reality, he looked at the blond puppet before recognition flashed across his features.

"Oh," he murmured, "My dad passed that on to me." He paused momentarily, in thought, before speaking again. "Well actually he passed the body to me, knowing I wanted it. I turned it into my first piece of art."

Itachi, now sporting a slightly disturbed look, nodded.

"One more thing to confirm," he said placidly.

Turning around quickly, he met the red head's gaze, eyes turning red instantly. Unable to process what had transpired quick enough, Sasori felt Itachi sweep through his mind.

Reaching out swiftly, he snatched a book off his bedside table and chucked it at the said raven.

Itachi cocked his head to the side, and the book narrowly missed him by a few centimeters. The raven cut off his search into the red head's head after that, and Sasori glowered intensely at him. "Why did you ransack my memories?" he hissed, glaring at the impassive teen.

"I wanted to confirm something," he repeated, meeting the other's angered stare with a calm one. He looked at the puppet, before looking back at the red head thoughtfully.

"Great, now get out of my room," Sasori growled.

The raven merely nodded, walking towards the doorway which had been open the whole time.

"Oh, and Sasori?"

The red head looked up irately at the raven who was halfway out of his room.

"You should have killed that blonde child."

The red head blinked in confusion at the statement, and the raven left the room.

Sighing, he gazed at the clock, realizing he only had half an hour to take a nap and clean himself up.

As if on whim, he traipsed over to the puppet that Itachi had been previously looking at, and screwed up his eyes at the blond haired, blue eyed puppet which stared back at him emotionlessly. "Hmm…"

XOXOXO

'That puppet looked exceedingly familiar,' the red head mused with annoyance as he hurriedly pulled the dirtied cloak over his shoulders.

When Sasori woke up a few minutes ago, he was not a happy man.

Apparently he had decided to examine that blond puppet and tweak a few joints on it after Itachi left, scowling down at said puppet the whole time and wondering what the cryptic raven had wanted with it.

He didn't even know who that blond man was; he had been over the moon when his father handed it over to him. The grown blond man had been splattered with blood, hair straggly and muddy, and the young red head positively glowed with happiness at the mangled corpse when his father dragged it home rather uncaringly.

His father had never brought bodies of his prey home, this being his first exception.

When he queried why, the older red head just muttered something about him being a bothersome hunter, and he didn't think the body deserved to be left outside for the mortals to find it. He then reached for a dagger half sunken into his left shoulder blade and extricated it with a grunt of pain, throwing it across the floor.

At that time, younger red head could have cared less about origin of the corpse. The child then dragged the blond towards his room and commenced the task of ridding the organs, attempting his first try at a human puppet. He had made plenty of animal puppets before of course, repeatedly experimenting with rats and even dogs, though the latter was rarely found around his home.

Currently, in all his musings, he must have fallen asleep all so conveniently on his bed with the puppet on top of him, relinquishing his hold on the screwdriver. The tool, which at present lay on the floor under his bed.

Truth be told, when he had woken up forty-five minutes later, he almost fell off the bed when he opened his eyes to blank icy irises staring right at his face.

After shoving the puppet off his body roughly, he instinctively turned to the clock, and upon realizing he was an artful fifteen minutes late for the meeting, he proceeded to smash his forehead against the wall in agitation.

He reached into the basket and pulled out his bloodstained cloak, ignoring how filthy he felt at that moment. He could have at least taken a shower, but _no_, he _had_ to be distracted by that puppet.

The red head then raced down the empty hallways, towards the main room, hoping to whoever who was listening that the meeting had been delayed. However, all hope shriveled up and died on the spot when he pushed open the twin doors, receiving a wrathful glare from Pein who had cut off his speech when he appeared.

The whole room of vampires hushed instantly and turned to the newcomer.

"Nice nap I presume, Sasori?" Pein said dryly, his face not showing a trace of mirth.

Feeling uncomfortable from all the unwanted attention and the pairs of eyes boring into his frame; he decided to play the submissive card for now.

The red head gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, I wasn't watching the time."

The carrot head narrowed his eyes at him, before his whole composure relaxed visibly and he stared indifferently at him. "Very well. Make sure this will not happen again."

Shying away from the stares, he made his way to a certain raven standing not far from him.

"How was your nap?" the raven said, looking irritatingly smug.

Glaring at the raven who was obviously responsible for informing their leader of the reason of his absence, he snapped, "Shut up, Itachi."

"Now, as I was saying, you will need to make sure to leave no traces. In other simpler terms, kill everyone alive," Pein continued smoothly, glancing around the crowd to make sure they were listening attentively.

Loud murmurs could be heard at the leader's order, visibly elated at this prospect, some even punching their fist the air in exuberance. There were a few who nodded solemnly, outwardly calm and nonchalant.

"Wait, what?" Sasori said, frowning in bemusement. "What is this about?"

Itachi turned and gave the red head a sidelong glance. "Oh right. You missed that part."

He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Leader wants to declare war on the locals. Apparently, a few of the hunters have recently killed seven of the non-royal bloods."

The red head looked shocked, "They found us out already?"

"No," the raven clarified, "Some of those dunderheads weren't very careful with their feeding, and were either attacked by their family members or whoever was around to witness it."

Sasori looked visibly relieved, and the raven frowned again. "You're not out of the woods yet, though. That was my inference to why they were killed. Pein, however, firmly believes that it was the blond you let off that caused this mess," he scowled, before adding, "Imbecile."

"What? That could be a total coincidence!" the red head snarled, "So he's blaming _me_ for this mess?"

The raven looked at him sympathetically, "Apparently."

"Pein!" Sasori yelled, catching the leader's attention immediately. The room automatically quieted down to hear what the red head had to say.

He growled at the leader when their eyes met, "The blond was not the cause of those non-royal's deaths!"

"Are you defending that mortal, Sasori?" Pein demanded, glaring at the red head.

"What? Of course I'm not, I'm defending _myself_," the red head hissed, baring his fangs. "You dare suspect me?"

Pein shrugged, and gave the red head an unconcerned look. "Then can you give me another plausible reason?"

Sasori narrowed his eyes, before replying aloofly, "They were careless, and got their just deserts. No other reason."

At this, many non-royal vampires growled threateningly and glared death at the red head.

"Negatory," Pein replied curtly, and the red head flashed thee leader a dangerous look that demanded a reason.

"We are very stealthy and cautious in our feeding, unless you think lesser of your clan mates," the leader drawled out, and the red head felt glares on him yet again. He could almost feel their dirty looks from the surrounding vampires prickling his skin.

"And," the carrot head continued, "Don't you agree that this is too much of a coincidence?"

Sasori clammed up by then, settling for only scowling at the leader. He swore if he dared even open his mouth to rebuke, a random vampire would jump him and go for his throat; judging by the mounting amount of glares he was getting.

"Well," Pein said, satisfied upon seeing the red head's silent composure, "now that's settled, we assail the town in a week. Dismissed."

The vampires then piled out of the room slowly, each going about to mind their own business. Sasori felt the raven give a short tap on his shoulder and broke out of his reverie, just in time to notice the leader walking towards the two of them.

Pein stopped and glanced about to confirm that all the other vampires have retreated to their rooms to rest for the day, before turning his attention to the red head and the raven, both who were giving him questioning looks.

"Sasori, I understand that you need to get your ring back?" the leader began, lifting an eyebrow.

The red head nodded, before frowning slightly.

"Then I suggest you take advantage of the bedlam this assault is going to arise to retrieve your ring from that blond child." Pein said with a steely stare. "That should be easy enough for you, no?"

The red head gave a snort of contempt, before returning the stare, "Yes _leader_."

Nodding, Pein left the room promptly.

"Hn…might as well kill that child while you're retrieving your ring," the raven piped up after a moment of silence.

"Why are you so on to me killing that blond?" Sasori finally asked, giving the raven an odd look. "This isn't some of your revenge schemes again, is it?"

Itachi rolled his eyes, "No, I'm just saying that it will be better for this organization if you do so."

"And why is that so?"

"…" Itachi stayed silent, eyeing the other uneasily. "It doesn't matter why, just suck him dry like you would do to any other mortal," the raven said flatly.

Shrugging at the raven's reply, the red head exited the main room and headed towards his room. Wrinkling his nose as he eyed his clothes, he groaned.

"Damn…I really need to take a shower."

A/N Maybe some reviews to brighten up my day when I come back? ;3 *hint*


	4. Chapter 4

A/N God, I'm sorry. I knew I said it would take longer to update…but yeah. One month's wait wasn't that long was it? Was it? *ducks flaming stakes* I was held up by a week of exams, and probably got an average of 5 hours of sleep per night? Yup. That may have been a poor (but true) excuse though, considering my friend gets only 3-4 hours of shut-eye. But I need my sleep, and sadly I'm not a night bird. You may count this chapter as some sort of filler; if you're looking forward to Sasodei interaction…but it's absolutely necessary for plot development. So yeah. Read it, I command you. *gets shot* ;w;

Thanks for all the reviews and subs! :'D

Trust Chapter 4 

_**A week later**_

A blond pressed his face and palms against the display glass of the store, receiving odd looks from a few passers-by.

His eyes trailed the setting sun as it began its slow descend from the pale crimson sky, occasionally turning around and giving his sister flighty looks.

The people on the streets were gradually clearing off to their homes as night drew closer; and he dearly hoped they would not have to walk home when it was sundown.

"Ino!" he hissed, glaring back at his sister who had been hanging around the counter for what seemed like ages.

His sister just casted him a sharp look before she resumed haggling over a bottle of perfume with a poor saleswoman. Said saleswoman who was looking rather jaded after countless explanations to his sister that the prices were fixed by the manager- and no, she could not speak to him as he was out of town.

The male blond growled in exigency and stormed over to his sister. "We should get home before dark un," he muttered urgently, snatching away the bottle of perfume that was currently the center of her attention.

"Fine, fine," Ino huffed, grabbing the bottle of perfume from her brother's hands before making her way to the counter.

"Why are you so fidgety anyway," she grumbled, handing some notes over to the girl mending the checkout and receiving a vermillion plastic bag in return.

Deidara sighed, casting a worried look at his watch, "Remember? Mum told us to get home before dark, so we probably should…"

"It's not like anything would happen," Ino muttered, walking out of the store with her brother tailing close behind.

The younger blond quickened his pace to catch up with her.

"Since when did you become so rebellious, un?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

The elder snorted.

"Since you came home after sneaking out unharmed and unwilling to say anything about your experience after that."

The blond quirked an eyebrow. "Seriously, un? Still testy about that?"

"Yes, I'm still testy about that."

Deidara sighed, pressing two fingers against his forehead in frustration. "Look un, I just don't want to talk about it," he muttered.

As his sister began to yet again rattle on about his safety and his damn surreptitious behavior, he hummed to himself softly, trying to drone her out.

He should have known that his flippant reply would beget yet another 'lecture' from his sister.

He let his eyes run down the now deserted street, body involuntarily tensing whenever he passed by an alleyway. The streetlights would be turned on in a mere minutes…they should be getting home soon.

A few dark figures, around six or seven or them, appeared far up in front, marching along the sidewalk in a rowdy fashion, almost as if they owned the streets. Deidara shook his head. Probably just juvenile delinquents loitering around.

He eyed the group warily as they came closer and abruptly stopped a lit abode.

He saw the figure at the head of the group-most probably the leader-snicker and make a sweeping gesture at the house.

Deidara frowned, silently wishing the moonlight that night was stronger, more luminous, so he could at least make out their visage. What kind of sane person decked out in robes in the middle of night to wander the streets? Robes…

"..." Ino trailed off, noting her brother's stiff composure. She followed his gaze, and gave his shoulder two quick taps. When her brother payed her no mind, she spoke, "Why are you staring at them funny?"

Deidara blinked, and replied without missing a beat, "They just look familiar."

Ino paused, before a grin broke out on her face. "You socialize with these type of people?"

"No I don't," the younger blond snapped back, finally breaking his gaze on the group to face his sister. "Don't you think it's slightly off that people go out at this ungodly hour?"

"Despite the murders?" Ino said lazily, "well so are we."

"Thats different, un." Deidara rebuked immediately.

"How different..?"

"I just think...they look like..."

Ino sniggered softly, rolling her eyes, "Murderers?"

The younger blond suddenly halted in his footsteps, looking back at the group in alarm.

"Well? Did I hit the bull's eye?"

"Shh!"

Detecting a presence watching them, one of the figures turned around, glancing up and down the street in what could be said as almost cautious. There was also something else present in their eyes, accompanying it...it almost seemed like...was that... Deidara's eyebrows knit together in thought. Was that hunger? _Hunger?_ Deidara felt his eyes widen considerably.

Whipping around, he snatched his sister's hand and pulled her into an alley. Panting softly from both the adrenaline and fear pumping through his veins, Deidara mustered up enough courage to peer around the wall.

He felt his blood go cold at the sight of one of the figures; probably the same one that had ostensively seen them, traipsing towards their hiding place. Deidara dug his fingers into his sister's arm involuntarily, causing Ino let out a small squeak of pain and protest.

"What was that for?" Ino yelped, trying to extract herself from her brother's vice grip.

Deidara jumped when he heard Ino's voice, almost as if he had forgotten that she was next to him entirely. He glanced at her in dismay, quickly letting go of her sore wrist.

"Would you keep quiet!" he hissed.

Too late. Ino's voice had probably alerted the person of their presence. As if to verify his fear, the blond could hear languid footfalls heading in their direction.

'Goddamnit.' The blond thought, biting his lip in anxiety.

Ino frowned at her brother's obvious trepidition, and made a move to look around the wall. She was stopped swiftly by Deidara's arm, his bright eyes glowing in alarm as he glanced up at her.

"What do you think you're doing, un?" he said urgently.

"Why are we hiding?" Ino demanded, hands planted firmly on her hips. She narrowed her eyes. Her brother shifted uneasily, but didn't reply.

The blond glanced around the alley, realizing that they were hiding in the partition of two shop buildings. Ergo, there was a winding staircase attached to the building on his left, probably used as an emergency fire escape route to the roof if the need ever arose.

"Come on," Deidara tugged Ino to the staircase, "We have to hide, un."

"What?" Ino asked, looking the slightest bit incredulous. "Where did all your urgency to get home go?"

"Fled to greener pastures," Deidara muttered, beginning his ascend upwards. His footsteps were loud against the metal, despite how carefully he treaded on the steps. Ino huffed, before wordlessly following her brother.

About halfway up the staircase, Ino gazed down and felt queasy from the height. "Don't think about it," Deidara said, and stepped onto a landing. "We're here."

The stairs had led them to a wooden door, bolted firmly to prevent any unwanted loss of goods. A white rectangular plastic nailed to the door on all four corners had glaring vermillion words printed onto it. "Locksmith," Deidara read out absentmindedly, fingering the bolt.

Ino looked up curiously when she noticed Deidara's hesitance, momentarily forgetting her fear of heights.

She nudged her brother away lightly, taking the bolt from his hands, "here, let me try."

Deidara frowned, and shook his head. "It's a locksmith shop idiot, you shouldn't even bother to try to break in, un."

"No, just let me try," Ino insisted. She fished out a scrawny piece of wire from her pocket, waving it in the air. Deidara scoffed half-heartedly, and crossed his arms. The older blond inserted it into the keyhole, giving the piece of wire some calculated twists. "You're a bad influence. Convincing me to break into stores at night."

Deidara gave a discontented grunt, walking to the banisters. From the height, he could see a dark silhoutte of someone below. Deidara tensed, watching the person shuffle through the alley for a few breathless seconds.

The younger blond held his breath, taking an unconcious step backwards. He bumped into his sister's side, causing the wire to slip from her hands and hit the metal flooring with a soft but distinct clang.

Deidara felt his breath catch.

The figure below twitched, head revolving around...slowly...searching..

Snap-

'Dead,' Deidara thought, 'we're dead..'

Crunch-

Deidara felt his eyelids flare open, and swiveled his head sharply to the source of the noise.

A lanky, mousse coloured man stood at the alley opening, chortling to himself in all but good humour. The figure below paused, and turned its attention on the intruder. Deidara truly felt like crying out in relief.

The drunkard paused momentarily, falling against the alley wall, obviously inebriated beyond self-awareness, and started nattering to himself.

Deidara winkled up his nose as the stench of spilt liquor and cheap deodorant hit his senses.

That unfortunate guy clearly did not know what he had just stumbled upon. If he did, he would have gotten his bearings and fled like a dog with its tail between its legs. But, as it was, he was sadly unaware.

The blond could almost feel the robed figure's wide grin. He stepped towards the oblivious man with such calm, calculated footsteps that the man would even have had trouble hearing even if he was not drunk.

There was a sudden crunch in the paving as the figure shot forward, seizing the man by his shoulders. The action was so abrupt and unexpected that the poor guy only had time to throw a shocked glance over his shoulder before his neck snapped.

The sickening sound ripped through the air, and snapped Deidara out of it instantly; almost as if a bucket of ice water was thrown onto his head.

This was an open opportunity for them to high tail out of there, and fast.

He turned around, ready to call his sister. "Ino-"

Bright blue eyes stared back at him- transfixed and unmoving. It then occurred to him that Ino had been furtively watching the scene over his shoulder the whole time.

She glanced at her brother with such a stew of emotion in her eyes that even Deidara had trouble discerning. The blond felt a small pang of guilt at her shell shocked look.

"So," she swallowed, as if her next words were hard to pick out, "this-this is what you've been keeping from me? All this time?"

Deidara rubbed his hands together sheepishly, "since that night only, un."

"Since that night only?" she choked out, "you knew, from then on, who was responsible? For all these deaths?"

Deidara turned away, watching the figure bite viciously into the neck of the limp body. Its head lolled to the side sloppily, with nothing but skin and tendons to prevent the two broken bone parts from tearing apart completely.

Ino turned with her brother's gaze, and felt bile rising in her throat. The younger blond caught her gaze and pulled her away quickly, picking up the fallen wire and pushing it into her open palms.

"I'll explain later un," he said, "now, we really need to hide."

Ino nodded dumbly, the full realisation of the danger of the situation finally weighing on her shoulders. She fumbled to get the wire in the keyhole, twisting with more alarm than tactfulness once it fit.

Deidara chanced a glance at the vampire in the alley, who had dropped the body in favor for wiping the blood off his robe. "..Hurry!"

"Got it-Oh shit!" she cussed, when the wire slipped out of her sweaty grip and drew a brilliant ruby line on her hand.

She reached up to cradle her wounded hand at the pain, and the wire clattered to the metal landing once more.

Deidara hissed in frustration, bending down to scoop up the piece of infuriating metal. He slammed himself against the door as a fresh panic blossomed in his chest, however the slab of stubborn wood did not give way.

He growled again, pushing against the door whist using his feet to keep himself firmly rooted to the ground.

"Here, let me try."

A hand extended towards him.

Deidara exhaled loudly, dropping the piece of stained wire into the outstretched palm. "Im telling you, it won't work, un."

A few thick seconds ticked past, accompanied with silence.

The blond had his face buried in his hands, "Quickly, Before-"

"Before what?"

Deidara looked up suddenly, and what he saw made his blood run cold. Ino was standing quite a distance from him to his right; with her back pressed as far back as she could against the banisters. The blonde's hand was shaking uncontrollably, and the shine in her eyes gave way to dull, palpable fear.

"..." Deidara let his eyes wander to the outstretched palm before him, to the piece of metal laying on it, gleaming softly in the moonlight.

The figure in front of him chuckled, bringing the wire up to his lips. A tongue peaked out from under the pallid flesh, and the red muscle swept across the bloodly piece of metal swiftly, effective ridding it of any of the rich fluid. He licked his lips a few times, as if craving for more of the substance.

"Really," he began, gazing down at the blond in front of him with smiling irises, "To think you honestly tried escaping."

Although his eyes seemed to radiate friendly intention, the way it shone with humourless laughter while he spoke stated otherwise.

"You could have too, actually." He turned his gaze to Ino whose legs gave way some time ago, eyeing her vermillion shaded hand appreciatively. Quite some of her blood had welled out of her cut and had trickled down her hand, dotting the landing with semi sphere red spots.

Blood.

He inhaled deeply, as if savouring the delectable flavour of the air itself, then exhaled, drawing the air from his lungs with a desperate slowness.

Reopening his eyes to expose his red slitted pupils, he grinned, fangs sliding into the light.

Ino wimpered quietly, shrinking away.

"Now, now," he soothed. "I won't hurt a single hair on your pretty little head," he said, smile sickly sweet.

"Get away from her!" Deidara hissed when the vampire started traipsing towards his sister, intention clear in its feral smile.

"Aww, don't be impatient," the vampire coed, turning around to face the blond. "It's your turn next."

He turned back to Ino, pulling her to her feet and grasping her chin. "After all," he smirked, "Ladies first, am I right?"

"Wrong."

As Deidara made a move to pounce on the vampire in a desperate last ditch attempt to stop him, another person beat him to it. The robed figure which had previously spoken hurled himself at the vampire, knocking him away from Ino harshly.

The vampire shrieked in anger as he flew clear off the landing, breaking his fall downwards by clinging onto the stairway banister. There he hung, the hood on his head uncovering soft brown hair and red irises reverting back to a grassy green shade."What the he-"

The figure crouched on the ground for a moment, before sighing and picking himself up. Dusting off non-existent dirt on his robe, he cast a glance at Deidara, before facing Ino. "You were hard to find," he said blandly, ruby eyes flashing in the night.

"Hey!" The brunette hanging at the stairway suddenly growled, eyes flashing. "Go find your own food and fuck off!"

The red eyed figure turned an uncaring eye at the brunette vampire. "You are sorely mistaken. I would never stoop so low as to steal a non-royal's feed," he replied.

The brunette let out an animalistic snarl at the demeaning term, which could probably have been more threatening if he wasn't hanging in mid-air about seven metres above the ground. Understanding flashed in his eyes, and he growled.

"You protected a mortal," he said slowly, voice caustic and biting. "Wait till leader hears of this!" He gave a sudden wicked grin, elated at the prospect of telling on a higher ranked vampire.

"Im just doing a favor for a friend," the figure replied nonchalently to the accusation. He gazed down at Ino thoughtfully.

"She has something he wants," he muttered, leaning towards the terrified blonde. "Isn't that right?"

Deidara saw Ino's eyes widen, in both realisation and shock.

The blond only had a few seconds to look down at the ruby ring on his finger as everything clicked into place. Holy shit.

Of course he remembered the ring he had stolen in exchange for his necklace; he was reminded harshly of that fact every day, all thanks to a certain red headed vampire.

The red eyed figure grabbed Ino's wrist non too gently, and with an abrupt, forceful tug, he heaved her over his shoulder.

Deidara glanced up with nothing short of dread at his sister's yelp, and upon realizing the danger Ino was in, he pulled himself shakily to his feet.

"Ino!" he yelled furiously, running towards the duo.

"You can have the other one," the figure said to the disgruntled brunette, eyes curving into a smile.

With that said, he did a hundred and eighty turn with his leg outstretched, and swiftly kneed the incoming blond in the stomach. Deidara felt the air rush out of his lungs, and he choked on his own spittle as he was thrown against the door.

Without as much as a warning, the figure leapt onto the banisters and jumped off, with the wailing blonde still on his back.

Deidara let out a half groan and a hiss of fury as he pulled himself up; the former due to the pain throbbing from his spine, while the latter was from the desperation and self-admonishment due to the fact that he was unable to save his sister.

Deidara rushed to the banisters, panting from the exertion on his sore body. He scanned the surroundings below in panic, finding out much to his chagrin that they were nowhere to be found.

It was like the red eyed kidnapper had never even appeared in the first place. But Ino was gone.

Deidara felt his chest tighten considerably at that thought; he had been the cause of all this. He had, and most probably was the cause of his sister's death.

And it was all because of that ring.

He glared down at said ring on his finger, a sliver of moonlight forming a bright, smiling crescent on the side of the gem. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that it was mocking him.

If it was the ring that caused all this, he would use it to get Ino back.

"Hey." A squeaky voice sounded, breaking Deidara out of his musings.

The blond glared daggers at the brunette who was still holding to the banister like a life line, while the other smiled back in a somewhat forced amiable fashion.

"Sorry to break you out of your thoughts and all," the brunette started,"but could you give me a hand here?"

Deidara scowled down at the brunette. "So you can kill me? Do you think im that draft?"

The vampire's smile dropped, and his lips twitched into a frown. "Im not going to kill you dear boy. Itachi ordered me to take care of you, and I would never do as what a royal blood wishes."

"Really? Itachi..?" Deidara trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but let's not care about that scoundrel now. Help me, please?"

The blond frowned, dubiosity clear in his eyes. "Why not you just jump down then? You're a vampire, right?" He practically spat out the last few words, which did not go unnoticed by the other.

"Yes I am," the brunette twitched with annoyance, "but even a fall like this would at least injure me, and I would like to avoid that."

The blond seemed to ponder this for a moment, and sighed. "Fine. But you have to tell me where that 'Itachi' went in exchange for helping you."

The brunette nodded eagerly, grinning internally. Blonds really were as dumb as he had caught wind of.

"That raven scum probably went to find his friends, now that he has gotten hold of what he came for."

"And where is that?" Deidara queried, stretching a hand out for the brunette to hold.

"Ah, the Bakers' I guess; that's where we meet."

"Thanks."

The blond quickly withdrew his hand as the brunette made a grab for said appendage. "Hey! What gives!"

The blond blinked slowly, a cold look covering his visage. "My mother always told me not to trust vampires."

"Wha-" The brunette was cut off with a harsh boot to his face, his fingers slipping off the metal. He went plummeting down, hitting the ground with a resounding thud and a groan of pain.

Deidara grimaced, and ran down the stairs hurriedly. He lost his footing on the way down in his panic, and tumbled down the stairs painfully.

'Thats going to bruise in the morning,' he winced as he forced himself back onto his feet, shakily walking out of the alley. The brunette lay in a heap on the ground, a groaning, writhing mess as he clutched his seemingly fractured arm.

He wisely sidestepped the vampire, and gazed along the streets as he stood at the mouth of the alley, disorientated and rattled in more ways than just his physical health.

XOXOXO

Sasori stared passively at the sobbing girl in front of him, her screams edging closer to hysterical and ear-shattering by the second. She couldn't possibly be more than six, judging by her stout appearance and the presence of baby fat on her face.

Yet...

He gazed down at the woman in his hands. He clutched a mop of inky locks, unruly and bloodstained, some strands sweeping the floor. A feminine face stared back, sharp and defined, the sting of old age still yet to mar the porcelain skin. A young mother, perhaps.

Having your loved ones taken from you right in front of your eyes was rather brutal, he supposed. More so at this tender age.

He then let the body drop onto the ground, still fairly warm. The raven haired girl stared in unspoken horrer as her mother fell to the ground, and ran towards her instinctively, crying out her name pitiously.

Sasori looked on apathetically, wiping his mouth sketchily on the sleeve of the robe. The girl cradled her mother's unmoving head in her arms, trembling as she rocked the body back and forth, as if hoping that her mother would wake up from her deep slumber.

Sasori snorted softly. "Useless being."

He turned away, the beginning of some hidden emotion stirring restlessly inside him.

A derisive chuckle sounded through the air, "going soft, Sasori?"

The red head ignored the raven that slinked out of the shadows behind him with the elite stealth of a fox ambushing its prey, and continued striding away from him.

Orochimaru sighed at the red head's retreating figure, rubbing his forehead in mock hurt at being paid no mind to.

Sasori felt his eyes widen fractionally when the raven vampire suddenly appeared in his path, causing him to halt in his tracks.

"Is that empathy I see in your eyes, Sasori-kun?" the snake like vampire grinned, tilting the red head's chin upwards in a playful gesture.

Sasori grimaced at the feeling of the cold, firm fingernails digging into his skin, and quickly slapped the offending hand away.

"So cold," he whined. "Still moody about your ring?"

"You can finish up the job yourself if you aren't satisfied," Sasori snapped bluntly, not keen on bringing up the subject.

Orochimaru huffed in what seemed like defeat, and trotted away from the red head. The young girl took one look at the approaching raven and shrank away in instinctual, primary fear of the stranger. The vampire snorted when she pulling her mother closer, desperate for any sense of comfort.

Orochimaru grinned sardonically and the girl let out a suppressed whimper at sight of the segregated teeth.

"Now then, little girl..."

The red head flinched slightly as a shrill scream pierced the silence, followed by noisy sounds of flesh tearing and the sharp snapping of bones as they were broken as easily as twigs. The metallic smell of spilt blood rushed to his senses immediately, and he sniffed disdainfully.

He would never be able to comprehend the raven's love-if one could even describe this odd attachment with a term of endearment-of butchering his prey to mutilation as he fed.

That made him the antithesis of the red head, whom preferred to keep the kill simple and clean. Just a simple puncture to a main blood artery would suffice to have a good, long drink; why make such a gory mess?

To the red head, the raven's antics were, in a candid summary; redundant and troublesome.

Orochimaru appeared by his side after some time, mouth and shirt stained with fresh blood. He was chuckling as he held a few bloody parts in equally crimson hands.

"I fail to see the humour," Sasori said with a vapid look. "There is nothing funny nor beautiful in what you did; cutting up perfectly flawless bodies which ceases to retain any of its beauty now that it can never be preserved."

Orochimaru shook his head, "You and your art crap. I agree with you about everlasting life, that much I do. However," he shot the red head a scornful look, "my way of achieving it differs greatly from yours."

"By collecting bloody bits from your every victim?"

"No," the raven twitched, then continued, "Well yes, to some extent. I need them for my experiments to ensure that I never age."

"You're a vampire," Sasori snorted, "ageing will never vex us."

"Not that age, Sasori-kun. Age," he grinned, pointing to his pallid complexion, "to make sure I never look old. We live a long time, but we do age physically as time passes."

Sasori gave him a long, odd look, and waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. Just make sure to keep those revolting things away from me."

"Of course, Sasori-kun." The snake-like vampire purred, and headed away to stash away his new collection.

"Dumb fool," Sasori commented offhandedly after he had left.

A gentle breeze at the base of his neck alerted him to another presence, and he turned around swiftly.

A raven haired robed figure was knelt on the ground after his long run, which took up double the strength this time around as he had been carrying another body on his back as he did so.

The twelve year old on his back thumped her fists repeatedly on his back, sniveling in desperation and fear.

"Here." The raven lurched forward and let the blonde roll of his back and onto the hard ground, the latter gasping at the sudden release.

The red head glanced at the blonde at his feet, and frowned, giving the raven an incredulous stare.

"Itachi."

The raven nodded, and flexed his stiff muscles. "I picked up something on my way here," he said placidly. He looked down at the blonde pointedly, and the red head followed his gaze. "Thought I'd do you a favor."

Sasori felt his eyes widen in recognition momentarily as he scanned the body. Blonde hair. Long fringe. Small build.

Ino groaned suddenly, rolling over and opening her eyes torpidly. Light blue orbes glistened, watery and bloodshot.

Immediately, Sasori's lips pressed into a tight frown at the feminine face and unfamiliar, azure eyes.

He looked towards Itachi with a considerable amount of cynicism.

"Whats the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"Did you not want that blond to return your ornament?" Itachi smiled slightly, strangely resembling a feline in the dim lighting.

"Yes; but _this_," he spat, nodding towards the blonde, "_this_ is not what I'm looking for. Can you not differentiate genders?"

"Of course she's not," Itachi replied, delibrately choosing to ignore the prick.

The red head searched his mind for an intellegent response but found none, settling for a bewildered-

"Huh?"

The raven grinned at the red head's baffled look, and bent down to grab the girl's shirt collar.

"It's not everyday someone can make the _great_ Sasori gape like that."

Sasori quickly shut his agape jaws, and glared at the raven.

"That is because what you just said made no absolute sense."

"Does it not?" The raven drawled, lifting Ino by her t-shirt and carried her to the far corner of the alley.

To the red head, it was in a way similar to when someone would pinch a banana peel off the ground to discard in the nearest trash bin.

Itachi hated humans just as much as he did.

Yes, the red head hated humans; but he had absolutely no qualms with toying around with them. Humans were interesting, that much he would admit; and his life was getting more mundane with each passing day.

'Maybe it's heriditary,' he mused, reminiscing about how his father would play with his prey before killing them.

But there was once he did not succeed, and it was due to him dragging out the time to toy with his prey. They outsmarted him, and he paid the price with half-blind eyes and an empty stomach.

"Your mind is wandering."

The red head snapped to the present, and leered at the raven.

"No, what you said made zero sense. Why bring that cheap mimicry for, then?"

Sasori nodded towards the blonde sitting against the alley wall, perked up in awareness and dread.

"Sasori." Itachi began softly, and the red head instantly caught the nuance of derisiveness underlying the tone.

"Why did the cat bait its prey with cheese?"

The red head frowned at the question which seemingly made no relevance to the current situation. He turned and his gaze locked with the raven's, and his eyes widened.

"...to lure the mouse out..." Sasori breathed, eyes lit up in understanding.

"He would never come to us willingly," Itachi said, echoing Sasori's thoughts.

"And when he does..."

"We can offer a medium of exchange," Itachi grinned smugly, "your ring, for his sister."

Sasori glanced at the blonde slumped against the wall. That would explain why they looked so similar that it had tricked the red head into believing it was the other for a moment.

"You bastard," Sasori suddenly snarled, "you knew this all along!"

"It was amusing to see you figure it out yourself." Itachi smirked.

Sasori toyed with the urge to punch the smirk of his face, but decided against it. In this context, it would be more benefiting to have an ally by his side.

"That said, why are you still here?"

Itachi looked over at the red head, whose gaze held no hostility, only mild curiosity.

"To enjoy the show," he smirked, settling for leaning against the alley wall with his arms crossed across his chest.

'He forgot to add in that he stayed to leech off any leftovers after all this is over,' Sasori mused. That lazy bastard. He turned to face the alley mouth; looks like they would be expecting company soon.

A quick, frantic scampering of footsteps echoed down the street, which was loud despite the clamor throughout the whole neighborhood.

Humans were useless.

But they were interesting.

Heavy panting, and a quick halt of footfalls. The red head grinned at the black silhouette at the alley mouth.

Even so.

The blond turned panicked eyes upon the two occupants of the alley, chest heaving in exhaustion and fear.

Humans existed solely as a life sustenance for vampires.

XOXOXO

Sasodei interaction in the next chapter ;3 They finally meet again *Glasglow grin*

Love ya all supporters! :D Please review!


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